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Posts from the ‘Non-1001 Book Review’ Category

Jan 5

9 Comments

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

brief

I’ve been fairly slow to make progress in our own winter scavenger hunt reading challenge (read about that and join us here). Part of the blame for that is the book I chose for Item #6 (read a book with a number in the title). I chose Marlon James’ A Brief History of Seven Killings. To be fair, I started this book in November (prior to the start of our challenge) but only read 1-2 chapters and then dropped it while I read a few other books. I just didn’t have it in me to read it then. I picked it back up in early December for the challenge. Was it worth it? Here’s what I thought… Read more

Jan 4

6 Comments

The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra

tsar of love and techno

I have started 2016 on a good note with the completion of my first 2016 read: The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra. Find out why it was so good and let us know how the start of your reading year is going.   Read more

Dec 4

7 Comments

Non 1001 Book Review: The Gap of Time Jeanette Winterson

The-Gap-of-Time

The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson
Published in 2015. Part of the Hogarth Shakespeare Retold series
Reviewed by Book Worm
Rating 5 stars
Find it here: The Gap of Time: A Novel (Hogarth Shakespeare)

Amazon synopsis: The Winter’s Tale is one of Shakespeare’s “late plays.” It tells the story of a king whose jealousy results in the banishment of his baby daughter and the death of his beautiful wife. His daughter is found and brought up by a shepherd on the Bohemian coast, but through a series of extraordinary events, father and daughter, and eventually mother too, are reunited.

In The Gap of Time, Jeanette Winterson’s cover version of The Winter’s Tale, we move from London, a city reeling after the 2008 financial crisis, to a storm-ravaged American city called New Bohemia. Her story is one of childhood friendship, money, status, technology and the elliptical nature of time. Written with energy and wit, this is a story of the consuming power of jealousy on the one hand, and redemption and the enduring love of a lost child on the other. Read more

Nov 24

20 Comments

Ghostwritten by David Mitchell

ghostwritten

I’m just going to go ahead and acknowledge that David Mitchell can do no wrong in my eyes. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I love his writing and, by extension, I love him. Many of you know that after reading Cloud Atlas I had avoided reading his other books because I didn’t want to be disappointed. My co-blogger Book Worm convinced me to keep going, however, and I’m glad she did. Here’s what I thought of Ghostwritten: Read more

Nov 10

1 Comment

The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon

wordexchange

The Word Exchange by Alena Graedon
Published in: 2014
Rating: 4 stars
Reviewed by: Jen
Find it/buy it here: The Word Exchange

I received a copy of The Word Exchange in my Book Riot subscription box for the technology theme. It’s not a book I would have chosen on my own and only ended up reading it because it was assigned for a reading challenge. Ultimately, I was pleasantly surprised by the book and probably should retract my earlier comments about how awful I found that particular Book Riot box (although the book extras were still pretty lousy). Check out why I think it’s worth a read. Read more

Oct 20

17 Comments

 Slade House by David Mitchell: Review and Giveaway

slade

Looking for a good Halloween read with a literary fiction slant? David Mitchell’s newest book, Slade House might be perfect for you! Read more

Oct 16

11 Comments

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell

bone clocks

The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell
Published in: 2014
Reviewed by: Jen
Rating: 4 stars
Find it/buy it here: The Bone Clocks

I should start off by disclosing that David Mitchell is my author crush and I spent a good 10 minutes just staring at the cover photo before even opening the book. Cloud Atlas is perhaps one of my all time favorite novels and I love how he views his individual books as being parts of a larger work. As a reviewer from the New Yorker so aptly stated, “each of his novels are porcelain babushkas hiding inside Mitchell’s meta-Russian-nesting-doll oeuvre.” Read more

Oct 12

14 Comments

Who will win the 2015 Man Booker Prize? Our Predictions

Tomorrow they will announce the winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize. Between the two of us (thanks mainly to Book Worm), we have read all the books on the shortlist (and all on the long list). We’ve reviewed all the books on here at some point and you can search by book to read our reviews. We wanted to do a Booker wrap up and prediction. See what we thought of all the shortlist books and which one we think will win. Read more

Oct 9

3 Comments

The Buried Giant by Ishiguro

buried giant

A while back I made a prediction that The Buried Giant would make the Man Booker Longlist. This was based primarily on the buzz surrounding the book because I hadn’t yet read it. Did my opinion change after I read the book? Read the review to find out. Read more

Oct 6

8 Comments

2015 Man Booker Shortlist: A Brief History of Seven Killings Marlon James

brief

The Man Booker Prize will be announced next tuesday. Monday we will make our final prediction for winner. Before we do so, we wanted to post a final review for one of the books that has been shortlisted. Find out what Book Worm thought about James’ A Brief History of Seven Killings. Read more

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